Davide to ask telecom firms, NTC to speed up Internet

PH has slowest Internet in Asean, 171st globally

Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III said he will ask the telecommunication companies and the government regulator to find ways to improve Internet download speed in the country.

“Mohangyo ta sa NTC (National Telecommunications Commission) nga ma-improve ang resources nila (We will ask the NTC to improve their resources),” he said.

He was reacting to a real estate consultant’s observation about the need to improve connectivity and infrastructure in Cebu to sustain the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry’s growth.

The Philippines, one of the strongest economies in Asia that has been predicted to lead economic growth in the region until 2016, has the slowest Internet among the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) countries as of July 19 this year based on the Ookla Household Download Index.

Worldwide, the Philippines ranked 171st among 198 countries. Two Philippine cities, Manila and Cebu, have consistently landed in the Top 10 outsourcing destinations of investment advisory firm Tholons. Manila and Cebu have maintained their respective ranks of 2nd and 8th as of the 2015 list.

The Ookla index, which ranks consumer download speeds, was based on test results from the Ookla Speedtest from January to July 19 this year.

The top three countries with the fastest Internet speeds in the world are in Asia: Singapore, at 131.55 Mbps (megabytes per second), followed by Hong Kong with 104.05 Mbps and Japan with 102.17 Mbps.  These three countries outperform the US and China. (See Table)

The download speed in the Philippines is the lowest in Southeast Asia at 3.68 Mbps. Worldwide, the Philippines ranks next to Paraguay (3.83 Mbps) and comes just before the Northern Mariana Islands (3.54 Mbps).

The Indochina countries—Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam—have faster Internet than the Philippines.

Provincial Board Member Jude Thaddeus Sybico, chairman of the committee on information and communications technology, said he will propose a resolution in next Monday’s regular session inviting the NTC officials as well as representatives of the BPO sector and telecommunications companies to shed light on the problem.

He said he also has the same problem of slow Internet.

Provincial Board Member Christopher Baricuatro, chairman of the infrastructure and commerce committee, said the province’s Investment Code does not touch on the connectivity issue, but provides assistance to the BPO sector in terms of training talents.

He also said they are focusing on establishing IT zones in Cebu. Areas being considered are  Carcar City in the south and Bogo City in the north.